Merciful Hearts
by Din's Rage
Summary: Blue Fox, the silent and merciless killer, a child soldier with a past is thrown into the chaos of the Shadow Moses Incident. As a member of the elite military unit FOXHOUND, Fox is expected to carry out heinous orders, war crimes & more. With suspicions of a traitor in the unit, Fox must weave her way through the lies both foes and friends feed her. Retelling of MGS with OC.
1. Insurrection

**Insurrection**

"That's right, herd them up."

Liquid ordered smoothly as he stepped out onto the helipad. Hands on hips, he appraised the prisoners. Mantis was at his side, bulky in a coat, formal save for his breathing mask;

"We caught them trying to outflank us. Foolish."

Raven said shaking his head as he threw a straggler down roughly with one hand, his other grasping a leviathan canon.

"Didn't even give us much of a chase," Ocelot complained as Fox came up alongside him with a squad of Genomes.

"There are no more on the lower levels. All dead, we made sure to keep the cameras running."

"Good," Nodded Liquid absently, "We want them to know we're serious."

"_Damn Americans never take blood seriously – unless it's their own_."

Wolf's silky voice resonated throughout all their earpieces.

"Be that as it is, I want them to know we're not pulling punches...Octopus?"

"He's over at the labs, rounding up the scientists."

Liquid bobbed his head acknowledging it and returned his attention to the NGSF soldiers who were before him, all awaiting death or imprisonment. Blowing out a breath, Liquid's intense blue eyes slid over to Fox,

"You said you killed all that opposed down below?"

She nodded,

"Hm, well then we can go ahead and offer these boys some form of sanctuary," He said thoughtfully.

Kneeling before the soldiers, Liquid ignored the light snowfall that gently fell around them all and engaged the soldier directly in front of him,

"Would you like to be a part of history?"

They all remained silent. Fox's narrow eyes bored into the scene before she grew uninterested and sat down leaning up against one of Raven's hulking arms and ignored them all. Raven was looking over his canon, whilst Ocelot and Mantis watched as Liquid said to the soldiers,

"Are there any heroes amongst you men who would shrug off their shackles and join us?"

About a third of the men got up and went and stood behind Liquid. Ocelot watched almost gleefully as twenty or so soldiers remained; utterly defenceless in the cold. Vulnerable.

"And so, our cause grows." Liquid said to his team satisfied.

Turning on his heel, he waved for Mantis to follow him and they strode into the complex leaving the unwilling loyalists to face their fate. Ocelot twirled his Single Action Army with a grin,

"So, so," He growled to the soldiers, "None of you army boys want to join us."

He began to pace up and down the line, sardonically pointing his gun at them all with a callous smirk.

"What a pity," He said unsympathetically when he got to the end of the line.

Fox was jostled as Raven moved and stood up straight unveiling his true height. Towering, hulking and powerful, but not without remorse; the massive man said in a surprisingly soft voice that commanded respect,

"Ocelot, don't toy with them."

"Eh?"

"A good death comes from one who is honourable."

Fox could see Ocelot's raised eyebrow, he chortled and turned away from Raven seemingly giving no credit to the shaman's words. There was a pause as Raven hefted up his canon and took aim. With no warning, he open-fired on the squad; Ocelot moved away as the resulting blast blew the soldiers to atoms. Fox looked away as Ocelot said,

"Sure, go ahead and ruin all my fun why don't you."

"A shaman can't condone torture, Ocelot; your methods move me to such action."

"Oh, should you condone blowing up a squad of surrendered soldiers who were being kept in place by mind control?" He countered snidely, "There may be a rule about that among you witch doctors or whatever – I wouldn't know."

"You test me?" Raven growled darkly and Ocelot shook his head with a smirk,

"Nah, it was banter. Friendly...of course."

Running the chamber of his gun down his sleeve, they heard the clicks. Raven didn't back down from Ocelot's teasing, they were halted by Wolf's voice through the earpiece however,

"_There's a call coming in from the Pentagon – the boss wants us inside. Octopus, where are you_?"

"_I'm where you least expect me_,"

Raven sighed losing patients with him and placed a finger in his ear and grumbled,

"Don't be furtive, Octopus, just get over here."

They heard him sigh through the earpiece,

"_Fine, I'm on my way now, Wolf. I shan't be more than sixteen minutes_."

"We won't look for you." Ocelot offered mockingly.

"_You won't find me_."

Octopus replied curtly and his voice was gone from all of them. Getting to her feet, Fox vaulted the railing that ran around the helipad smoothly and nimbly. Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her body warmer, she was thankful of her skin-tight thermal suit at that moment. Without it she would have frozen to death for sure. Striding inside, she was halted by an arm, Raven's arm;

"You're thinking if all this is worth it aren't you, Fox?"

She looked up at him; he had his back to her slightly. Fox looked away when she felt him gaze at her,

"I don't want to be a part of this history..."

"Commendable, little Fox, but whether you want to or not you will be after this week. We all will."

He said almost reverently. Fox bit her lip and watched the Genomes enter the facility, Pineapples trained on the backs of the newly-turned-insurrectionists; she was only here to help them. The Genomes. Shaking her head, she was about to say something when Raven cut her off,

"Soon every school child will know who we are and what we've accomplished,"

"_But history is not made by those who hear it,_"

Said Liquid through the earpiece confidently and Fox felt her stomach turn,

"_But by them who write it_."


	2. The Demands

**The Demands**

So they were taking Liquid's demands seriously, but the Americans weren't at the bargaining table _just_ yet. Liquid gnashed his teeth in annoyance and then ran a hand down his face,

"We _need_ his remains," He said to himself.

Mantis was stationed at his right; Wolf had abandoned all semblances of attention and was standing at the far end of the room, arms folded with a brooding look on her lovely face. Raven was sitting on a bench, his gigantic arms hung leisurely down between his legs, and Fox was leant up against his back, her legs up and resting on the flat of the wall, fighting back sleep. Ocelot was absently twirling his gun as he thought furiously; all of their pondering were interrupted by Octopus as he entered the room silently.

"We'll just have to push harder." Liquid ruled finally.

"But without both PAL codes – we can't make pretty on that threat, boss."

Ocelot pointed out calmly and Liquid sighed. There was a pause as Octopus drew back his hood and sat on the bench beside Raven and Fox.

"We'll have to come up with something..." Liquid thought aloud, "They'll send an operative."

He predicted quietly as he rubbed his chin. Mantis nodded and said,

"We are prepared for that. One man can't storm the entire facility, and even so – it'll only be to assess how dangerous and legit the threat really is."

"Well, after our little Fox's display down below," Ocelot grinned, "I don't think they should have a problem assessing the legitimacy of how serious we are."

"What if we just got Baker's code?"

Wolf added from across the room, "Can't we just use that?"

"No, we need both. Any attempt to access the terminal and use it – it'll override and shut down."

"Paranoid fools."

With that, Liquid began to pace up and down the room. Fox turned round and watched as he did. His face was stony in his thoughts, he looked tense. Her eyes slid away, she wouldn't offer any observations at this early stage and leaned against Raven again, burying her chin into the warmth of her scarf.

"There has to be another way..."

"There most certainly is," Octopus uttered. They all looked at him, he smiled his strange smile.

"Over at the labs, there's a scientist there. Quite familiar with this," He looked over at Ocelot, "Looks breakable too, I might add."

"_More_ torture?"

Raven spat. Fox's ears pricked when she heard Liquid's boots shuffle,

"The ends justify the means. Octopus, take Ocelot to him. After you're done with him you can get back on Anderson – we need his code, implants or no implants I want it out of him." He added.

They both nodded and Octopus got up off the bench sleekly and allowed Ocelot to exit the chamber first. When they had left there was silence until Raven got up leaving Fox at liberty a moment. Liquid eyed her,

"You've been quiet, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I've just been thinking-"

"I _know_."

Mantis proclaimed knowingly making the girl scowl at him. She looked away as Liquid turned his blazing blue eyes on the psychic,

"She's been wondering if she was too brutal for the cameras, and should we fail she's; wondering how long her sentence will be – _if_ she even gets sentenced at all. She's wondering who the Pentagon will send and what's being kept from her. She's also worried for the Genomes."

"Stay outta' my head, skinny-man. Too brutal? I could break you like a pixie stick."

"But not before I crushed your mind and had you writhing around the floor like a worm."

"Enough!" Barked Liquid, "What do you mean what's being kept back? I've held nothing back, Fox. As for being caught, we won't be. This is our insurrection, we are in control."

"We're not indestructible. What are we going to do about the DARPA Chief? We don't have his code. The moment the Pentagon realises that – they'll write this off, bomb the place. We'll be sitting ducks."

Fox fretted and felt Raven place a mammoth hand on her tiny shoulder.

"Courage," He counselled and got to his feet, "We will persevere, and we will come out on top. We _are_ in control; I feel it on the winds."

"To hell with your winds, Raven. She's disloyal."

Mantis snarled brutally. Fox was on her feet in a moment, the dark circles under her eyes prominent.

"Not disloyalty." She snapped staunchly, "You can never worry too much, Mantis. If you think we're safe as we are then you're an idiot, Baker's code will be easy to get – he's an old man, but Anderson? I don't think it'll be so easy. We need to plan. Liquid?"

"I hear you, Fox." He compromised evasively. As if he felt her uncertainty, he turned and gently placed his gloved hands on her shoulders, "I _do_ hear you." He said tenderly and Fox eyed Mantis a moment before peeping back,

"Do you?"

"Yes, but now's not the time for doubts, we have things to do. You all have jobs, so go and do them."

Fox's brow furrowed,

"What are you going to do?"

"Prepare," He answered shortly. "There are arrangements to be made. You go and take care of our prisoners, make sure they're not planning any insurrections of their own."

She sighed and was the last one to leave. At the door, she turned and asked,

"His remains...Liquid, they will cure them won't they?"

Liquid didn't move; he was at a terminal furiously typing away. When he finally half-turned, he said,

"I don't know for sure – but it's a step in the right direction, Fox. Don't worry, I'm not about to abandon them."


	3. Recklessness

**Recklessness**

_In charge of the prisoners._

Fox rolled her eyes at the mediocrity of her role in this history she was helping to make, but digressed; she was of no use to anybody at this moment in time anyway.

"Hey! Let me outta' here!"

Fox sighed and hauled herself out of her seat and out of the small overseer's office. Locating the noisy prisoner's cell, she smacked the metal door with her arm and barked,

"Shut it!"

"What's going on?"

It was a man's voice this time. Fox opened the slider and looked through. Baker was in there with a young woman. He looked tired; overwhelmingly so, but Fox was not about to move him. He was slumped up against the wall at the further side of the cell, she bit her lip. He didn't look good, and they needed him alive.

Screw it, she used her card and opened the door. Slipping inside, she hovered her hand over her pistol at her hip and threw a cautionary glance to the female soldier and uttered,

"Stand down. Now."

She did, backing off. Fox nodded and knelt before Baker,

"Are you alright? How're you feeling?"

"Do I _look_ alright?!" He demanded and whacked his cane off of Fox's arm feebly.

"I am in the worst state of my life, and you have the gall to ask me how I am feeling?! You insurrectionists, you limitless hooligans-"

"I suppose being an insurrectionist is much worse than being a bloated, overpaid puppet who steals for a living." Fox snapped blandly. "Maybe I should touch up my résumé to say 'accepts bribes like a common whore', I don't know, what do you think?"

His flustered face seemed to die and the passion went out of him and he slumped to the side utterly exhausted by the looks of it. Fox had quite forgotten about the female soldier and turned, an eyebrow raised. She was gone.

"Damn."

Jumping up, Fox left the old man and hurried through the open door of the cell and down the hallway. There was nowhere to go, Fox knew. She had memorised every inch of Shadow Moses. She knew it like the back of her hand; so taking out her shotgun, she cocked the weapon as a warning; she'd shoot if the need arose. Each step light, she prowled down the corridor and said out loud,

"There's nowhere to hide and no escape, soldier. Might as well ride it out until it's over,"

She glanced around a corner; nothing.

"I'm not denouncing my team when I tell you that there's no credit to what they say; there's _no_ heroes to be found on Shadow Moses."

She held her gun close, a quiet moment passed; a drip, the scuttle of rats in the vents. Fox felt her mouth curl in a small smile; she whipped round the corner and aimed her gun at the escapee. She gasped and eyed Fox resentfully as the girl sighed,

"None whatsoever."

Fox escorted the woman back to her cell, by the time she had ushered the young woman back, Ocelot was waiting at the open door, his expression stern.

"What have I told you about _doors_?"

Ignoring him, Fox jabbed the nozzle of her shotgun into the woman's lower back and watched as she stumbled forward into the cell. Ocelot looked on vacantly rubbing his white moustache.

"We have to move him," He commented, nodding at Baker. Fox looked at him,

"Are you sure? Look at the state of him."

Ocelot shrugged,

"That's the orders, kid. We have to get his code."

Fox felt her ears twinge at the word 'code' and she saw the young soldier eye them both and turned away before closing the door - but the soldier could still see them through the slider,

"What about Anderson?" She muttered and Ocelot grimaced,

"Oh, yeah...that."

"What?"

"Anderson's dead-"

"What?!" She hissed and threw a look over her shoulder at the female in the cell, seeing the soldier's keen expression, Fox snapped the slider on the cell door shut before glaring back at Ocelot,

"What d'you mean he's dead? How? It's only been an hour!"

"He was a harder nut to crack than I first thought. I applied a bit of pressure and he bled out."

Fox felt her temper fray at his nonchalance and rubbed her neck anxiously,

"What's the problem?" Ocelot frowned and Fox snarled in an undertone,

"Why would you kill him if you need his code so badly?"

Ocelot shrugged, "Its fine, stop worrying."

"'Stop worrying'?" Fox echoed, "What are you not telling me? You were told not to kill him. The boss told you not to, and you did. Why?"

"It was an accident – nothing more. Trust me." He said in a high voice,

"Trusting a monkey with a grenade." Fox quipped bitterly and Ocelot chuckled quietly,

"Monkey's always had your back no matter what so have a little faith in him, will ya'?"

Fox didn't say anything as Ocelot shouldered past her into the cell. She heard him say,

"Well, former president, let's get you somewhere more 'comfortable'."

They moved Baker to a remote part of the complex. Fox watched silently as Ocelot threw the aging man to the cold ground, only for him to struggle to get back up and have his cane kicked out from under him. If he wasn't such a lying termite of a man, Fox would have felt sorry for him. Standing next to Mantis, Fox heard the psychic groan in annoyance,

"What is it?" Ocelot asked over his shoulder, gripping Baker's collar.

"He has blocks," Mantis rasped. Fox frowned,

"What, implants? Like the DARPA Chief?"

Mantis sighed heavily; he was standing with his arms crossed over his lithe frame. Fox and Wolf often talked about what was under Mantis's breathing mask, was it a beauty or a beast? Fox was of the impression that it was undoubtedly a beast; Mantis was not a beauty in any sense of the word. An agile, dangerous mind ran amok behind that mask and he waved a gloved hand,

"Yes, just like the DARPA Chief. I can't read his mind – and I can't get his code."

"Well then," Began Ocelot smoothly turning back to Baker. "We'll just need to take a more _physical_ approach."

With that, Ocelot brought his elbow down on Baker's arm, breaking it while Mantis and Fox looked on stoically, ignoring the older man's squeals of agony and pleads for mercy.


	4. An Encounter

**An Encounter**

Back in the cell block, Fox was on edge. Ignoring her gut, she looked out of the little window that was before her desk in the overseer's office; she jumped and yelped with fright. Standing there on the other side was Donald Anderson, getting up Fox growled,

"Don't do that! You are such a creep, D-O."

He chuckled darkly and slinked around the doorway, hanging off the frame, he said,

"Mantis is very troubled these days," He offered,

"Oh." Fox said unhelpfully,

"Uh huh, he thinks we have a little fox in our midst. He's taken it to the boss, and he agrees."

"He agrees with what?" She asked mildly and Octopus shrugged,

"He agrees that we have a traitor or a spy among us – both aren't mutually exclusive."

"Well, it isn't me,"

"I never once said that it was." Octopus retorted glibly, making Fox click her tongue at his word-play.

"But you must wonder, I mean...We are as small and elite as a unit can get and yet we still have disloyalty. You are known to be particularly fond of those Genome soldiers."

"Look after the crowd and they'll look after you," Fox retorted acidly.

"Doesn't matter how elite anybody is, I'm no exception, Octopus and neither are you – you saw how quickly those men switched sides. Mantis had better stop harping to Liquid and keep the Genomes up in morale or we _will_ be trampled."

She spat out the last word with derision, her eyes averted for a moment. Sitting back down, she looked up to see Octopus regarding her, his face unreadable because it was not his true face,

"Oh, Fox, always thinking, always fretting – I suppose it's what has kept you alive."

"It has actually, especially when I am lumped in with band of people who don't seem to think or fret much overly. Now, get in your cell."

He bowed his head, a smirk on Anderson's face,

"You should direct all that thought on Mantis – he's been dripping doubt in Liquid's ear regarding you."

"What?" Fox snapped,

"Well," He shrugged and looked away as he backed out the room, "Can you blame him? You've not fully been onboard with this insurrection since its inception...Actually, since Ocelot's incept."

She watched his retreating back as he strolled out of the office.

"Something to think about, Fox."

For a long while Fox sat in the office mulling over what Octopus had more or less hinted at; there was suspicion growing, and Fox didn't want to be founded as a guilty party. With an exasperated sigh, she sat back and closed her sore eyes. She was dozing when static screeched from her walkie alerted her, nimbly she sat up and grabbed it and listened,

"_Fox? Fox, are you there_?"

It was Ocelot's voice, Fox nodded even though he couldn't see her and said,

"Yes, what is it?"

"_The boss shot down the F-16s, he's coming back down. He radioed in and told me to tell you to stay sharp – the operative should be out on the helipad by now. Ignore any noise until you're sure Octopus has informed him of everything_."

"Alright...Ocelot?"

"_What_?"

"Octopus told me that Mantis mentioned to the boss that there may be a spy among us...What do you know about it?"

There was silence and Fox felt her stomach clench. When finally he replied he sounded barbed,

"_You shouldn't talk about this over the walkies_-"

"So you know something about it?"

"_Look, Fox, just put that sharp mind of yours to other things at the moment. We'll talk later. How do you feel anyway?_"

Fox sighed and pulled the walkie away from her lips so he wouldn't hear her frustration.

"I'm fine, I'm feeling alright," She lied and added, "Just need to pace myself – but I should be able to hold out a while longer."

"_Good, don't blow this_."

He was gone.

Fox felt her brow knot at his caginess. It was unlike Ocelot not to inform her if he was double-crossing, but the notion that he'd be doing that to FOXHOUND baffled her.

Ocelot was the one who was gung-ho about joining the unit. She bit her lip in thought and wondered what Octopus had said about Mantis. He was too dangerous to be left unchecked for very much longer, Fox ruled in her head and thought that if it came down to it she would kill him herself and not feel that there was much of a loss. He was after all completely useless in obtaining the codes.

Getting up, Fox was wringing her hands and trying to calm herself when she heard a soft thud above her. Her spine went rigid, she wouldn't look up. So she sat back down and put her feet up on the desk and feigned tiredness. It had to be him. He was finally inside the facility.

Octopus was in his cell waiting when suddenly the vent above his head opened. He gasped and threw his eyes to the ceiling;

"Who? Who's there?!"

Dropping down from the vent was the operative. A tall man, built, with dark brown hair. Octopus's gasp was real; it was very, very real. This man who had just entered his cell looked _exactly_ like Liquid. They had to be twins; with the same intense blue eyes, the same nose the very same in every aspect except for the hair. He cowered and backed away from the man who took a ginger step towards him and held up his hands to show he came in peace,

"I'm here to save you; you're the DARPA Chief, Donald Anderson, right?"

"Here to 'save me', huh?" He spat incredulously, "What's your outfit?"

They were circling each other now; Octopus felt that familiar thrill of deception that his mark was falling for his disguise.

"I'm the pawn they sent here to save your worthless butt."

"Really?" Octopus whimpered and the man nodded.

"I suppose...You don't look like one of them-"

"One of _them_?"

"The terrorists. Now, hurry up and get me outta' here!"

"Hold on, "The man said holding up a hand, "I need some information about the terrorists."

Octopus smiled inwardly. Oh, he'd give him information alright; he'd tell him _everything_ he needed him to know.


End file.
